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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26916160">Ultimatum</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/drivingsideways/pseuds/drivingsideways'>drivingsideways</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hyena (TV 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Romance, Sort Of</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:55:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,880</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26916160</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/drivingsideways/pseuds/drivingsideways</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"How bad is it?" she asks.<br/>"It's bad", Hyeon Ah concedes, "There's a ring."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jung Geumja/Yoon Heejae</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ultimatum</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefeastandthefast/gifts">thefeastandthefast</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It occurs to her that she'd really been a fool about this.</p><p>The signs had been there for weeks, no, <em>months. </em></p><p>If she'd been less busy—but no, that was a weak excuse.</p><p>She should have seen it coming.</p><p>It had probably started that time when he'd insisted she be there for the Yoon family dinner celebrating his birthday, and the Yoon family had done the usual thing families of their kind did- which was to be condescendingly and freezingly polite to her. She didn't care, but he'd been quiet on the drive back home- he'd insisted that he would drive her home.</p><p>"Well?" she recalled saying cheerfully—the good thing about the dinner was that the food and wine had been excellent—" Want to send your family into a tizzy by not returning home tonight like the good birthday boy?"</p><p>He'd rolled his eyes, but there had been something hovering at the back of them, something that she should have paid greater attention to.</p><p> </p><p>"You should have", Boo Hyeon Ah is saying, "paid attention. Honestly, sunbae, I thought you <em>knew</em>."</p><p>She gives her an outraged glare.</p><p>"If I'd known, do you think I'd have let it get this bad?" she hisses.</p><p>Hyeon Ah shrugs a graceful shoulder. The late afternoon sunlight streaming through the café's windows highlights the streaks of dark red in her hair, giving her aura a devilish tinge in contrast with the angelic smile Geum-ja is being subjected to.</p><p>"I thought you were letting him", she says, sweetly, "get away with it."</p><p>Geum-ja huffs.</p><p>"Because you wanted to", Hyeon Ah adds, "I mean it's—"</p><p>"Finish that sentence", Geum-ja hisses, "And I'll find a way to make you work weekends for the next three months."</p><p>"Already doing that", Hyeon Ah points out, "anyway, it's sweet."</p><p>"It’s a goddamn fucking inconvenience" mutters Geum-Ja. She can feel a headache coming on.</p><p>What had he been <em>thinking</em>?</p><p>He probably <em>wasn't, </em>she thinks, resentfully. Because if he had, then surely—</p><p>"How bad is it?" she asks.</p><p>"It's bad", Hyeon Ah concedes, "There's a ring."</p><p>Geum-ja rears back in horror.</p><p>"It's a rock the size of Jeju", Hyeon Ah says, evidently trying to put a positive spin on it, "It'll look awesome on you."</p><p>"You did this!" Geum-ja yells, "I know you did!"</p><p>Somebody at a neighbouring table says, loud enough for the entire café to hear, "Some people are not brought up well."</p><p>"It was a team effort", Hyeon Ah says, unfazed, trapping her wrist before she could jump up and tell the asshole what <em>being brought up well</em> meant to her.  "I mean, it was either all of us pitching in or Yoon sunbae collapsing under the combined weight of his feelings and your obliviousness and we'd all be out of a job. Thanks to you. Again."</p><p>Alright, that was a fair point.</p><p>Still.</p><p>"Ji-eun was in on this?" she yelps suddenly, in belated realization.</p><p>"Made the powerpoints and has a trend chart for your moods" Hyeon Ah says, blithely, "I have to admit she really knows you. I mean, she was right on the money when she said this was the week when you'd wake up to it. I owe her three pizza dinners."</p><p><em>Her</em> Ji-eun. A <em>traitor</em>.</p><p>She covers her face with her hands.</p><p>"What do I <em>do</em>?" she moans, rhetorically. It's pretty clear what she needs to do.</p><p>Hyeon Ah leans forward, all wide-eyed earnestness, the kind of trick she's pulled on a dozen judges, having argued opposing counsel into a corner where any judgement not in <em>her </em>favour would seem like the judge lacked any human compassion or morals.</p><p>Geum-ja would have been proud of her, in <em>other</em> circumstances.</p><p>"Marry him", says Hyeon-ah.</p><p>The <em>fuck</em> she would.</p><p>"If you're going to sit there spouting nonsense, I'm going to leave you with the bill", she snaps.</p><p>Hyeon Ah flutters her eyelashes.</p><p>"For the noble cause of the happiness of two of my respected seniors, that would be an acceptable price."</p><p>Geum-ja glares some more.</p><p>"When did you stop being scared of me?" she gripes.</p><p>Hyeon Ah abandons the ingenue act for one of her <em>real </em>grins, as Geum-ja thinks of them. There's no coquetry, pretended or real— just the open smile of a woman who knows she doesn't have to be anything other than herself in the company she finds herself in.</p><p>Geum-ja will admit to being secretly a little smug about it—these—her girls, Hyeon Ah, Ji Eun and even that termagant, Koo Eun-ah, whom she'd managed to steal from right under Kwon Young-un's nose—are her real wins, at the end of the day.</p><p>Not that the <em>other</em> wins were insubstantial or unsatisfying—quite the contrary. Three years since they left Song &amp; Kim in the dust behind them, and that building- <em>her </em>building- has never seemed more attainable.</p><p>Just a little more.</p><p>Fine, a few years more.</p><p>Even Ji-eun doesn't treat it as one of Geum-ja's <em>quirks </em>anymore.</p><p>No, it wasn't a quirk or the foolish dream of a girl whose grasp exceeded her reach—it was a <em>legitimate goal.</em></p><p>Not that Geum-ja had needed the validation— if she'd made the mistake of waiting for the world to give it to her—like so many women did, for one reason or the other, then she might have never been in sight of reaching it.</p><p>And she couldn't do it alone.</p><p>That was a hard thing for her to admit, the hardest thing that she'd ever had to, harder even than letting Yoon Hee-jae into her life and bed and- <em>fine</em>- heart.</p><p>That it couldn't be done alone.</p><p>She needed them- all of them- and the others, who would join along the way, some for brief stretch of time, others who would stay—not forever, she had never been <em>that</em> naïve—but for longer.</p><p>"What's the problem?" Boo Hyeon Ah is asking, "Why won't you marry him?"</p><p>"Why <em>should </em>I?" she counters, looking up from her cup. "Argue your case, Defense Attorney Boo Hyeon Ah."</p><p>Hyeon Ah's gaze is a little too knowing.</p><p>Damn, but she'd perhaps taught her a little too well.</p><p>(What an insidious thing it was, this business of giving. Once you started, you couldn't stop, you got to the point where you didn't recognize it for what it was.)</p><p>"Well", says Hyeon Ah, after a moment, "For one, the rest of us at Choong wouldn't be mortally afraid that our bosses love life would go down the drain and take us with it. Boost of employee morale."</p><p>Geum-ja sniffs, which is all the consideration that argument deserves.</p><p>"Oh, what?" says Hyeon Ah, looking pissed, "You think we like coming into work when the two of you are on the outs?"</p><p>"We're not on the outs and we’re both professionals".</p><p>"You're not on the outs <em>yet</em>."</p><p>"We've worked together before when we weren't friends" says Geum-ja, dismissive. "Mortal enemies, even."</p><p>"That was <em>before</em>", Hyeon Ah says, "If you're thinking it won’t be different now—"</p><p>"It won't", says Geum-ja, impatiently. "Yoon needs this to succeed as much as I do, and we're not babies."</p><p>Hyeon Ah's laughter is incredulous.</p><p>Geum-ja narrows her eyes.</p><p>"He gave up Song &amp; Kim for <em>you </em>", says Hyeon Ah, after a minute. "Do you really not see that?"</p><p>"Is that what you think?" Geum-ja asks, genuinely curious. "Is that what all of you think?"</p><p>Hyeon Ah doesn't say anything for a long minute.</p><p>"Yes", she says, finally . "Not <em>only </em>for you, no. But I think you were the decisive factor."</p><p>Geum-ja shakes her head, opening her mouth to refute it, she can, she has a half-dozen arguments, evidence in her favour—</p><p>"I didn't realize how scared you are to admit it", Hyeon Ah says, with a touch of amazement. "I thought you weren't scared of <em>anything</em>."</p><p>It takes her breath away, for a moment.</p><p>But only for a moment.</p><p>"You", she says, taking a sip of coffee, "are prone to excessive sentiment, Hyeon Ah. It's your one weakness."</p><p>Hyeon Ah gives her a dazzling smile.</p><p>"I rather think it's a strength", she says, "Alright. Anyway. Point two. It'd stop the slander."</p><p>"The slander whets curiosity and gets us business", she retorts.</p><p>Hyeon Ah says, "It doesn't hurt at all?"</p><p>Geum-ja gives her a disbelieving look.</p><p>"And here I was beginning to think that we were friends", murmurs Geum-ja.</p><p>Hyeon Ah doesn't take the bait. "We are", she says, "sunbae. I meant, hurt Yoon-nim. It hurts him because it's <em>you</em>."</p><p>Geum-ja throws her head back in laughter.</p><p>"Goodness, child", she says, "What a romantic you're turning out to be. I've been lax in my teaching."</p><p>And yes, Yoon was traditional, in many ways, and if Geum-ja was honest with herself, which she was, brutally. It was, and had always been, part of the charm. But this—the gossip about them—they'd talked about it before, had agreed that it was a weapon in <em>their </em>hands, so no, he wasn't <em>hurt, </em>no matter what—</p><p>Hyeon Ah leans forward, resting her chin on her clasped hands.</p><p>"You're terrible at this", she observes, "I knew that, but I just didn't realize how much."</p><p>Geum-ja raises an eyebrow.</p><p>"Love", clarifies Hyeon Ah.</p><p>"Am I?" she asks, still amused, and pretends to ponder it, for a while. As if she doesn't know the answer.</p><p>But Hyeon Ah's eyes are soft now, a little pitying even.</p><p><em>That</em> rankles.</p><p>"I don't play by the rules", Geum-ja scoffs, "At anything. I never found the value in playing a game that was rigged against me from the start."</p><p>"There's no shame in it", Hyeon Ah says, a non-sequitur if there ever was one.</p><p>"What?"</p><p>"In <em>changing</em>",  says Hyeon Ah, taking her breath away for the second time in their conversation.</p><p>Hyeon Ah sees it, and goes for the kill, just like Geum-ja had taught her to.</p><p>"You already have", she adds, "Even if you won’t admit it yet."</p><p> </p><p>And that was the nub of it, wasn't it?</p><p>To love, that wasn't hard, not really. It was easy, natural, human beings were built for connection.</p><p>The trick was to place your love where it would be respected.</p><p>Geum-ja had a lifetime of practice at it- and she didn't get it wrong these days, hardly.</p><p>She knew enough about it to take her time, gather all the necessary information, weigh the pros and cons, look ahead to the possible pitfalls and see the road around them—and then decide if it was worth it.</p><p>No, she hardly got it wrong these days: Ji-eun, Choong, Hyeon ah, Yoon.</p><p>None of them were mistakes.</p><p>Or hadn't been.</p><p>Change?</p><p>That <em>was </em>harder on all counts; unpredictable, and therefore, dangerous.</p><p>For a minute she imagines Yoon listening in to this conversation, can see the incredulous look on his face slowly softening into realization and then—</p><p>She shivers, despite herself.</p><p>Damn Hyeon Ah, she thinks, damn that girl.</p><p>"Do you want children?" she asks, abruptly.</p><p>Hyeon Ah blinks at her in surprise.</p><p>"I think so", she replies, after a minute, "I mean, I never really considered <em>not </em>having them."</p><p>"Even when you know what the world is like?"</p><p>Hyeon Ah shrugs. "It's what we make it" she says, "Nothing's ever going to be perfect. They'll deal like we did- do, still."</p><p>"Huh", says Geum-ja.</p><p>"Hmm", says Hyeon Ah. "Yeah. Shocking, I know."</p><p>She tilts her head.</p><p>"Is that what this is about? The institution of marriage being a patriarchal garbage can?"</p><p>"I don't <em>need…</em>", starts Geum-ja.</p><p>"Of course <em>you</em> don’t", interjects Hyeon Ah, sounding a little impatient now. "You think he doesn't <em>know</em> that? You think that doesn't scare him shitless? He's not like you."</p><p>Geum-ja blinks at her.</p><p>Hyeon Ah narrows her eyes again.</p><p>"Ah", she says, "So <em>that's</em> what you think this is about. You think he wants to go back to the safe haven of conformity."</p><p>"Isn't it?" Geum-ja asks, because what else <em>could </em>it be, surely Yoon didn't think—</p><p>God damn it.</p><p>"<em>Now</em> the penny drops", sighs Hyeon Ah. "Honestly, you're <em>really</em> <em>fucking</em> <em>terrible</em> at this, and you can quote me at that."</p><p>"I don't like ultimatums!" Geum-Ja scowls.</p><p>"He's trying very hard not to make it one. He bought the ring three months ago." Hyeon Ah says, "Give him a break."</p><p>"A rock the size of Jeju <em>is </em>an ultimatum" Geum-ja argues. "I should break his knees for even thinking it."</p><p>"I tried to talk him out of it" says Hyeon Ah, earnest. "Ji Eun, too. But, well, you know. <em>Men</em>."</p><p>Men, thinks Geum-ja, still furious, fucking ruining <em>everything. </em></p><p>"Your scowl is scaring the pigeons away" mutters Hyeon Ah.</p><p>Geum-ja looks out of the window as a grey-feathered parasite takes wing.</p><p>"Good riddance", Geum-ja says, "Fucking pests, pooping everywhere."</p><p>"They mate for life, y'know", says Hyeon Ah, with a grin.</p><p>"You", says Geum-ja, pointing a warning finger at her, "are on thin ice."</p><p>Hyeon Ah's phone rings.</p><p>"Oh dang", says Hyeon Ah, "Got to go make the world a better place for my hypothetical future children. See you later, sunbae, thanks for the coffee, nice chat."</p><p>She's up and away before Geum-ja can say anything more.</p><p>That was ok, Geum-ja would find a way to punish her for all of it, <em>later</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Yoon comes back on the weekend, preening about the deal he'd wrangled with one of HK's largest conglomerates to handle all their Korean subsidiaries affairs. It's not going to be exciting work, but it means that they're going to be able to give the staff at least 20% more in bonuses at the end of the year, and hey, Geum-ja is going to be able to put a little more toward the Building Fund too.</p><p>Morale booster, Geum-ja thinks viciously, the <em>temerity</em>.</p><p>"Something in your soup?" asks Yoon, sounding amused. "Or is this your new <em>I'm happy to see you </em>face?"</p><p>"Hyeon Ah needs a spanking" she says, chewing on a soggy shrimp.</p><p>They're stretched out on the sagging couch, on opposite ends, their feet tangled in the middle.</p><p>Yoon raises an eyebrow.</p><p>"How depraved, my dear delight", he says, with a shit eating grin. "Tell me all about it."</p><p>She gives him a knowing look.</p><p>For all he pretends to be blasé about it, Yoon can be surprisingly shy. Besides, he's always been protective about Hyeon Ah. In another man, that ingrained sense of courtesy might have devolved into benevolent condescension.</p><p>But that wasn't Yoon.</p><p>"Later", she says, setting the bowl down. "Let's take a walk. It's a nice night."</p><p>"Sure", he says, though she knows he must be tired from the flight and the entire week.</p><p>If she was a different sort of woman, she might have let him rest, she thinks.</p><p>But that wasn't her.</p><p>The amble in silence, hands and shoulders occasionally brushing.</p><p>It's late enough that there's no traffic in their little corner of the world; the occasional car, a couple of students, drunk and boisterous, careening down the sidewalk toward them. As they pass, Yoon instinctively puts his body between them and her. She doesn't comment on it.</p><p>She comes to a stop, turning to face him.</p><p>In the glare of the street lamps, his face has taken on a greenish tinge.</p><p>"So, you found out", he says, suddenly,  before she can say a word. His shoves his hands into his pockets but doesn't look away from her.</p><p>She huffs.</p><p>"Yeah" she says.</p><p>He says nothing.</p><p>"Sorry it took me so long to notice", she offers.</p><p>He laughs, a soft huff, at that and looks away for a moment, before looking back.</p><p>He runs his hand through his hair.</p><p>"It's ok. You were busy." he says, with a twist to his mouth, "You don't have to let me down gently. I knew you would say no."</p><p>"Then why even think about it?" she asks, curious.</p><p>He shrugs. The twist of his mouth gets deeper.</p><p>"Sometimes", he says, not looking at her. "I think I need to do things to know my own heart."</p><p>Hers gives a thump at that.</p><p>She waits.</p><p>"You're it for me", he says, looking straight at her. "Whether I am for you or not."</p><p>Don't be a fool, Yoon, she wants to say. Don't give your heart away like this, it's not safe, <em>I'm </em>not safe.</p><p>But she isn’t as brave as him, she thinks, suddenly.</p><p>Or wasn't.</p><p>Change, she thinks, almost nauseous from the discovery.</p><p>Because her fool mouth is already talking.</p><p>"You know how I want this building?" she says, because that's where she's brought him.</p><p>He nods.</p><p>"That's how I want you", she says. "More, even. On some days."</p><p>His eyes widen.</p><p>"Yeah", she says. "It's like that."</p><p>"Oh", he says. "Ok."</p><p>She exhales and thinks her knees might be a little too weak.</p><p>"Right", she says, fortifying herself with a deep breath of air. "Is that enough? Or do you want the paper?"</p><p>"No", he says, sounding gratifyingly breathless himself. "Not if you don't want it."</p><p>"I don't", she replies, "Fuck the law."</p><p>He laughs.</p><p>"I'd like the ring, though", she adds, as they turn back, toward Choong and home. "I want to wear it to your family's Christmas dinner."</p><p>He laughs again, a joyous sound, and twines his fingers with hers.</p><p>"Ok" he says, "That sounds like fun."</p><p>"It's going to be" she promises.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>@thefeastandthefast: This isn't exactly what you might have expected, I think, but I hope it makes you smile anyway.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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